McLaren Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain drives in the rain during a training session at Catalunya's racetrack in Montmelo, near Barcelona, on March 12, 2011. — Reuters pic

LONDON, March 15 — Formula One pit crews will be busier than ever this season with the arrival of new sole tyre supplier Pirelli forcing drivers to make many more stops.

Gone are the days when a driver could complete most of a race on a single set of tyres, before a late dash into the pits for the mandatory change, and no more will grands prix be a series of flat-out sprints between stops.

Speaking to Reuters before the March 27 season-opener in Australia, Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery said his company's PZero tyres would wear out far faster than the previous Bridgestone rubber.

While that may not sound like the best marketing for the Italian brand, or for a sport seeking greener credentials, it is all part of a plan drawn up with team bosses and the powers-that-be to make races more exciting.

"If you want to do durability... then maybe Formula One isn't the right place to do that," said Hembery.

"In any case a Formula One race is only 60 laps, it's not exactly a huge distance for travelling even if you use one set of tyres."

Drivers who have complained in pre-season testing about degradation and expressed their frustration at how the tyres rapidly "go off" get short shrift.

"We are actually trying to deliver what we were asked to deliver, and it was their bosses that wanted us to try this," said Hembery.

"You are going to see more pitstops, for sure... and you will probably see that different teams will operate different strategies."

Melbourne's race, said Hembery, could see each driver do three or four pitstops. Managing the drop in performance, and looking after the tyres, will be a new challenge.

Outright speed over one lap is no longer the be-all-and-end-all. Drivers will have to be clever with their tyres and strike a balance in a classic hare and tortoise dilemma.

A slower pace at the start of a stint means tyres will last longer, but a driver who pushes harder, and wears out the tyres quicker, may gain enough time to stay ahead despite having to make an extra stop.

"What you (Pirelli) are trying to do is show that you can provide a performance product that can add to the show," said Hembery. "You want to show that you can influence and impact by use of tyres, by choice of tyres on the strategy of the race.

"The whole objective is you are going to have people changing tyres at different times and depending on what product (compound) they've chosen and what stage of wear they are at, you'll have cars going at different speeds. That should encourage overtaking."

Last year's Canadian Grand Prix has provided the inspiration. In that race in Montreal, the issue of tyre wear was the talk of the paddock due to the particular asphalt conditions with all teams struggling for grip and balance.

Different tyre strategies, with some starting on the softer compound and others the harder, produced a riveting tactical race with the leading five drivers all in contention at different stages but swapping places during the many pit stops.

"Basically the description was: 'We want a race like Canada'," said Hembery. "We've spent a lot of time and energy trying to create that situation."

"Judging by the testing we've seen so far, I don't think there's one clear pattern emerging," he added when asked how the racing would pan out.

"We are seeing quite different influences on the tyres between the different teams and driving styles.

"It's going to be the balance between performance and not doing that extra stop. I have to be careful what I say because I can see what's going on on different cars and all I can say is that there are quite clearly different strategies being evolved for different teams."

Australia will be Pirelli's first grand prix in 20 years, with their last race win coming at the 1991 Canadian Grand Prix with Brazilian Nelson Piquet in a Benetton. This year they are sure to win every race but there is still plenty to worry about.

Apart from four tests in Spain this year, and a young driver test in Abu Dhabi in November, Pirelli have had to develop their tyres in cooler conditions than they would like and with different cars to the ones racing in Melbourne.

The chemical grip, or "stickiness", of the tyre that also allows a track to be "rubbered-in" comes out only when temperatures rise above 25 degrees Celsius.

"If you rubberise the circuit, you start extending the tyre life and you can get up to a 40 per cent increase in tyre life between a Friday and a Sunday just by that action," said Hembery. "So there are still a lot of variables to see.

"There are elements that we clearly won't have been able to simulate in testing," he added.

"Certainly for the first few races the teams are all going to have their own ideas and that should make for excitement. In time will they all start gravitating to the same strategy? That I don't know." — Reuters

MANCHESTER, March 15 — Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson has in three days gone from scratching his head as he scrabbled together a makeshift midfield to grappling with an abundance of riches.

Winger Nani's speedier than expected recovery from a leg injury and the availability of Michael Carrick and Antonio Valencia has come just in time for today's Champions League last-16 second leg against Olympique Marseille at Old Trafford.

Portuguese Nani trained with the first team yesterday and will play a part in the game despite Ferguson previously ruling him out after he sustained a gash in a tackle by Liverpool's Jamie Carragher just over a week ago.

"He trained on Sunday also, he and Michael Carrick, which is a better situation than I had at the weekend," Ferguson told a news conference, referring to Saturday's FA Cup win over Arsenal where midfield injuries forced him to field seven defenders.

"Both will be involved tomorrow."

It was unclear whether Ferguson planned to name Nani in the starting line-up or whether fellow winger Valencia was in the running for the battle with the French champions which resumes after a 0-0 draw in Marseille last month.

Valencia made his first appearance for six months on Saturday following a broken ankle and put in a good performance when he came on for the second half of the 2-0 FA Cup quarter-final victory.

"It was a fantastic bonus for us to get 45 minutes from Antonio on Saturday," said Ferguson. "The question is whether we can play him from the start or continue as we did on Saturday as a substitute.

"It's a great selection problem for me."

Ferguson said his team's pursuit of three trophies — the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League — would be boosted by others also close to returning, such as midfielder Park Ji-sung who could be fit for Saturday's game against Bolton Wanderers.

Even injury-cursed Owen Hargreaves, who has made only 39 appearances since moving to United from Bayern Munich for £17 million (RM85 million) in 2007, could still feature this term.

"Hargreaves started training this morning. Hopefully, you never know, we may have him available towards the end of the season," said Ferguson.

"It doesn't matter how many players have been injured in the past, the important thing is to have them all available for the run-in. Hopefully if we can do that it will definitely increase our chances."

Defender and captain Nemanja Vidic missed training yesterday after picking up a knock against Arsenal but should be fit for today.

United should feel confident against a team who have not been in the last eight since winning the 1993 Champions League as the English side are unbeaten in all competitions at home this season and have never lost to French opposition at Old Trafford.

However when asked by a French reporter whether that confidence had led to United playing for a draw in Marseille, Ferguson did not mince his words.

"I thought Marseille went for a 0-0, I must admit," he said. "Maybe they're the ones that are confident." — Reuters

Raffaele Palladino (pic) opened the scoring in the 29th minute for the hosts but Napoli hit back with goals by Hamsik (52nd), Lavezzi (58th) and Maggio (87th) to give the visitors full points.

Argentina striker Lavezzi put in a superb performance to help the Partenopei in this win but he was quick to point out that it was the team's performance that led to victory.

"I'm not the one who deserves all the credit, but it's the team that deserve the credit. We never stopped fighting and did our utmost to bring home the full three points," Lavezzi told Corriere dello Sport.

"We didn't put in a good performance in the first-half, but we responded well after the interval. We have the quality to stay among the top teams in the standings and we will fight until the end to achieve our goals."

Lavezzi also commented on his return to the starting line-up after suspension.

"I'm very pleased to be back in the line-up. Hopefully, I won't make any mistakes again as I want to be important for the team," he said.

Napoli sporting director Riccardo Bigon says he is still shocked at how well the team continued to play despite being down at one stage.

Even though there are only nine matches to be played until the end of the season, Bigon believes Napoli are united in wanting to win the Scudetto.

"The season is long, and there are many points available, but this was a key match after the 3-0 loss to AC Milan away in the last match, as things went according to plan," he told Sportal.

"This team continue to provide surprises, and it is a united group as everyone is working hard towards one goal. The players know what they want, and they demonstrated this, as they didn't want to lose."

Napoli moved back into third position in the standings on 56 points, one point behind second-placed defending champions Inter Milan.

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP): Andy Roddick beat fellow American James Blake 6-3, 7-5 in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on Sunday.

Roddick's eighth win in 11 matches with Blake set up a third-round meeting with U.S. Davis Cup teammate John Isner, who opened the day with a 6-3, 7-6 (2) victory over Ricardo Mello of Brazil.

Three-time tournament champion Roger Federer overcame Igor Andreev 7-5, 7-6 (4), while Australian Open champion and No. 3 seed Novak Djokovic stayed perfect for the year (13-0) with a 6-0, 6-4 win over Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan in the opening match of the night session.

Roddick rallied from a 3-0 deficit in the second set by losing just two points and hitting 10 of his 13 aces in his final five service games. Isner had 12 aces and did not face a break point against Mello.

Roddick said he thought he performed acceptably, but "it was tough to get a gauge on how I was playing because James was playing so aggressively. From the first game his strategy was - he didn't want to let me get a rhythm. I felt like he was coming out of his shoes (trying to hit winners). It was tough, but the numbers looked good afterward. I felt like I was hitting the ball okay, so it worked out."

Federer, who'll meet Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina in the third round, is 4-0 lifetime against Andreev.

"I thought it was another tough match against him," said Federer, who is 15-2 this year. "I felt always kind of in control in the first set, even though I was down, 5-4. I felt I was in the match quickly against him, which maybe in the past wasn't always the case because he's got a lot of spin and a lot of pace.

"I was able to handle that better today, I thought. I had a good 10 minutes where I was able to get up 7-5, 2-0, and after that he found his way into the match and it really became competitive. I played a really good tiebreak."

The Iranian, who won Stage 1 (Kota Iskandar-Bandar Penawar), attacked the race well with his team-mates throughout the 175.1km final stage yesterday to wrest the yellow jersey from Le Tua's Vidal Celis Zabala.

Last year's winner David McCann (Giant Kenda) finished second, just two seconds behind Sohrabi, who finished the race in 3'59:44 while Ioannis Tamouridis (SP Tableware) took third place, 1:26 behind the Iranian.

After the second intermediate sprint at Sepang, Sohrabi and his team-mates broke free from the main bunch while Zabala just sat back without responding.

"My team worked hard today, they really worked for me. After the second sprint, I just went for it," said Sohrabi, who wore the yellow jersey for two days after taking the first stage.

"When I looked back at the main bunch, Vidal was very quiet and did not follow. We worked together at the front all the way to the finish."

With the win, Sohrabi also consolidated his lead in the Asian rider (blue jersey) competition.

Mohd Harrif Salleh of Terengganu Pro-Asia won the green jersey (points classification) he held from the first stage while Amir Mustafa Rosli (Police) won the white jersey for the best Malaysian rider.

Mohd Adiq Husainie Othman, who rode for the national team, won the king of the mountain competition.

The EPL All-Stars team celebrate after winning the Standard Chartered EPL Masters Malaysia Cup at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil yesterday.

FAUSTINO Asprilla's hat-trick saw the EPL All-Stars dethrone Manchester United to lift the 2011 Standard Chartered EPL Masters Malaysia Cup with a 3-2 win in the final at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil yesterday.

United, winners of this tournament when it was last held in 2009, were unable to repeat their 4-1 preliminary round win over the All-Stars were underdone by former Newcastle striker's cool finishing.

Asprilla opened the scoring in the second minute when he toe-poked a lose ball in off the crossbar before making it 2-0 in the next minute with a low shot after and All-Stars counter-attack.

Asprilla had a chance to complete his hat-trick in the fourth minute when faced alone with goalkeeper Fraser Digby but pulled his shot while wide under no pressure.

The All-Stars paid the price when Jesper Blomqvist pulled one back in the fifth minute for United to trail 2-1 at the break before Ronny Johnsen found a gap in the All-Stars defence and fired in the equaliser in the ninth minute.

Asprilla did get his hat-trick in the 11th minute when he pounced on a rebound to restore the All-Stars' lead.

The Colombian appeared to pull his hamstring the in the process and took no further part in the final but still ended as the tournament top scorer with six goals.

The All-Stars coasted through to the final whistle with United having little by way of chances or possession although the Red Devils had the consolation of having Andy Cole named as the best player of the tournament.

Earlier, Liverpool was denied a place in the final on goal difference after finishing level on points with United and the All-Stars.

Zainal Abidin Hassan's goal in Malaysia's 5-2 defeat to Liverpool saw the Reds miss out by the narrowest of margins.

Among the other players featured in the Malaysian team, who also lost 6-3 to the All-Stars and 3-1 to United, were goalkeeper Mazlan Wahed, Ahmad Shahrul Azhar Sofian, K. Gunalan, Shahrin Majid and Annuar Abu Bakar.

SELANGOR and Malacca registered convincing wins in the National Under-16 tournament yesterday and are poised for an explosive Group A encounter at the KLHA Stadium today.

Pahang were at the receiving end of the Selangor onslaught when they were thrashed 7-1 while Malacca were equally clinical in their 3-1 win over Johor.

With defending champions Kuala Lumpur whitewashing Police 9-0 also in Group A, Selangor and Malacca play in a do-or-die match when they clash today.

Selangor coach Wan Samsuri realises that even after three wins, the match against Malacca could determine their fate in the tournament.

"It is a three-way battle involving Selangor, KL and Malacca for the two semi-final slots from our group. That is why we can't afford to lose against Malacca," said Wan Samsuri.

"Having eight players from last year's team helps as we did not have more then a week's preparation for the tournament this time. And after the relatively poor performance against Sabah in our opening match, we have been improving.

"Our initial target is making the semis and from there it will be an open affair as I do not see a vast difference in standard among the teams here."

Selangor, represented mostly by players from SMK Seksyen 11 Shah Alam and the Bukit Jalil Sports School, showed why they must be feared when they demolished Pahang.

Mohamed Noor Khairul scored a hat-trick with goals in the 5th, 12th and 45th minutes with the other goals coming from Haikal Zamri (13th), Nazirul Mubin (24th, 44th) and Qamarul Afiq Azny (56th). Pahang's consolation was scored by Khairul Amri Talha in the 32nd minute.

Malacca were a cut above in their match against Johor and took the lead in the sixth minute via skipper Firdaus Omar. But Johor were on levels terms when Safeed Roslan found the back of the net in the 24th minute.

Goals from Mohd Firdaus (39th) and Nur Alif Aiman (53rd) gave Malacca the three points.